Maybe I'll start off with a quote from Mark Twain, who said, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." I think a lot of you expected the world to fall in a heap at the end of February when the war broke out, and for things to turn pretty awful pretty quickly. I'm pleased to say that never happened. From where we sit, the business is in a good position. There is an impact of some elevated fuel prices. We can talk about that in a little bit more detail. Pleasingly, consumer demand has held up very well. I'll go so far as to say that when we look at our May numbers, our May revenue growth was higher than our year-to-date average had been to that point.
We're seeing some very positive trends coming through in the business, and obviously there's different parts of that across the world, and there's different stories in many different geographies. The overall message that I do want to give you is one of positive optimism that it's looking fine out there. The trajectory is continuing. We spoke in February, towards the end of February, obviously before the war broke out. Obviously, the war has had a devastating impact on the Middle East, which fortunately is in recovery mode now, and it is improving. Overall, the business is in good shape. There's very little different from what we told you in February. We're relatively confident of finishing the year with the trajectory continuing the way it is. Obviously, there's nothing major that we need to bring your attention to.
There's just a few nuances and observations that I'd like to share. I guess the other Mark Twain comment that does come to mind is the 3 type of lies. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. I know you all love your spreadsheets and statistics, 0.27% of this, and 0.001% of that. Yeah, reality's pretty different to that. Overall, take it from us, the business is in a reasonably good position. The look forward is reasonably positive. Our teams are looking forward to continued growth out the business. From where we sit at the moment, we really are exceptionally comfortable with the position of the business. To talk about the elevated fuel prices first.
A lot of you did panic and thought we were going to run out of diesel and maybe we thought that as well for a week or two. Fortunately, the physical shortages never materialized. There is an availability. Obviously, it comes at a higher price. In terms of the cost impact of that, to a large degree, we've worn the impact of it, and we've done that very deliberately. Many of our competitors, many of our suppliers have tried to knee-jerk a reaction, have tried to maybe even profiteer out of the pricing, put in surcharges, got quite a lot of backlash. We took a very calculated and deliberate decision that said that the price of diesel is going to moderate, and if it doesn't moderate, we can make a different decision. In most markets, we've taken the view to generally absorb the additional diesel costs.
There obviously are some contractual arrangements for certain types of customers, and generally we're talking about the larger QSR-type customers, the contractual lower margin customers, where we do have the ability to pass on fuel increases and decreases, and obviously, we'll follow those contracts accordingly. But for the general part of our market, we've actually used this as a marketing tool, to let our customers know that we're all part of the same ecosystem, that it's not all about short-termism, that we're here for the long haul. We're here to help them, we're here to support them, and it's a partnership. And I must say that to a large degree, that's been very beneficial to us. In many markets, we see we are picking up customers. We have generated some goodwill.
There has been a positive out of not unilaterally and very suddenly passing on increases, which in reality had to be wound back relatively quickly, because although the price spiked up very quickly, it started coming down relatively quickly as well. It's still elevated, it did come down. It was quite a difficult situation for those people to manage, where they put in surcharges and then had to take them off. We believe we've done the right thing. It has impacted our overall results to a degree. There's no doubt that it's cost us a few million GBP, EUR, USD, ZAR, whatever else. We'll see the benefit of that in future years, in future growth, in goodwill, that we have earned out of it from our customer base.
Overall, I don't think it's going to have a material impact on our results and our group results for the current year. Will have an impact, absolutely. It's not a hugely material impact. David might be able to elaborate a little bit more, although I'm not sure we'll ever know what the exact amount is, because some of it sits on the supply side, some of it sits on the sales side. It's actually quite difficult to establish exactly what it is. The last few months have basically seen the trends of the first six months that we spoke about in February continue. The winter in the U.K. and Europe was particularly cold this year. Trading was a little bit depressed in January and February, not unexpectedly so. Easter was a little bit earlier this year than last year, which gave us a very reasonable March.
We paid back some of that in April, where we didn't have the benefit of Easter. The timing plays a little bit. On average, if you smooth it out, trading up until the end of April was exactly where we thought it would be, and tracking according to trend and the numbers that we've presented. Like I said, May, we've seen a slight uptick in revenue across many, many geographies. We've had record weeks. Last week was a record week in a few countries. It's not really inflationary. I know that you'll ask the question, what's inflation doing? Food price inflation really hasn't started increasing as of yet. Somehow the system is absorbing the increases, and we're not really seeing any elevated elements of food inflation in the business.
The sales growth that we're getting is generally good volume growth, and we're very, very pleased with that. If we break it down on a region-by-region basis, let's start off with the emerging markets. South Africa continues to perform exceptionally strongly across all three businesses in South Africa, with strong above 10% growth. They're doing a fantastic job, continue to do a fantastic job. South America, we've continued to grow very, very strongly in all three markets. We had maybe a tough year or two before, but there's no doubt that all three of those markets are poised for growth and are delivering and are growing very nicely. The Middle East, like I said, has had a very tough time with Dubai and Saudi obviously were both directly impacted. That did impact trading in March and April, and to a large degree in May.
Numbers aren't back to where they should be. Hotel occupancies are relatively low, and I think air traffic through the region is a little bit depressed. Our view, which is probably shared by a lot of people, is that humans have a very short memory and will bounce back relatively quickly when it does bounce back. It's not disastrous. The business has taken some relatively prudent moves in trimming some of the cost base where they could. Going back to COVID years, the mantra's been exactly the same. We trim the fat, not the muscle. We know it will bounce back. We've looked after our people. They're going through a tough time too, and we need them for the bounce back, which absolutely will happen. Turkey remains a work in progress. Small business potentially has some good upside. Moving over to Asia, Singapore continues their recovery.
Malaysia's performing very well. We've got that acquisition in there from the beginning of the year. They're performing well. They're about to move into their new distribution center later this year, which gives us triple the amount of capacity that we had before. We'll continue that exciting journey. Greater China remains a challenge. The business is tough. We are profitable. We're not hugely profitable, but it is tough, and China is much tougher than Hong Kong. I've explained the reasons for it before. I've explained the anti-Western sentiment, and I've explained how suppliers, our traditional partner suppliers, once the chips were down and sales became more difficult to get, moved from exclusive model to an open slather model, which obviously has some impact.
Greater China probably causes us a little bit of concern in terms of its growth prospects, but the contribution is relatively minor now to the overall group. Emerging markets, overall, has grown. Like I say, South Africa, South America doing fantastically. If we move over to, let's go to the U.K. It's a tough environment there. Those of you who read the news out of the U.K., there's very little to cheer about. There's very little good news. The macroeconomic situation isn't great. The consumer's doing it tough, and our business is doing relatively well under the circumstances. We've continued the growth. We've got a plan in place to raise our margins there, our trading margins by a few percentage points, and we're absolutely on track to achieve that. So far, we've achieved exactly what we set out to.
That business appears to be gaining market share. We are streamlining the business. The major investment phase is basically complete. There are still one or two replacement depots that need to go in, but the expansion is complete. Now we're actually delivering upon the plan, and the UK team have done an excellent job doing that, and are looking relatively positive for the year ahead. Obviously hoping that there's not some major train smash from a government point of view, from an economic point of view, from a tax point of view, from a consumer point of view. But as is at the moment, we're getting reasonable growth. The business is in good shape. The cost base has been trimmed. Margins are looking fine. We're growing the trading profit and the trading profit margin out of that business and getting better returns out the business.
Australasia overall is marginally flat. That's made up of two components. You've got, first of all, Australia's tracking basically flat year-on-year. They are getting some sales growth. That is offset by cost increases primarily in wages, and a large amount of that is actually uncontrollable. It's government-introduced imposts and charges. I'm on about that. There is a lot of shifting of responsibility around the world from government to private enterprise, where taxes, imposts on costs, social costs, et cetera, are put on business to supplement local government. Australia's got the issue at the moment that interest rates are rising. I think we've had three interest rate rises over the last six months. The consumer's under a little bit of pressure.
In the most recent budget, they plan to introduce sweeping changes to tax, all of which means you're paying more tax to capital gains tax, to negative gearing, et cetera. Consumer sentiment is generally pretty average. Our business is holding up exceptionally well. It's a highly profitable business and is getting some sales growth. We'd like to see that sales growth a few percentage higher than where it is, and the teams are working exceptionally hard now, focusing on getting that growth. New Zealand had a pretty average four months to start the year. We saw things turn in about October, and that has continued. The business is really kicking some good goals now and is back on its growth path, and is delivering overall growth. Will deliver growth for the year notwithstanding the relatively slow start.
That growth probably has slowed down a little bit over the last month or two as fuel prices have gone up, as consumers are a little bit wary. We're still seeing some very good growth out of the New Zealand business, and they've definitely got their mojo back, and the business is doing excellently. The last segment is Europe, which continues to be a standout performer. Western Europe is very different to Eastern Europe, which is different to Central Europe, I guess. Eastern Europe continues to grow strong. There we've got our Czech and Slovakian business, Poland, and the Baltics. I think their economic growth is just a little bit better than Western Europe. Governments are a little bit less meddling. I think those countries are growing stronger. In Central Europe, our Italian business is performing exceptionally well. We put the investment in two years ago.
We expanded capacity. We went through a little bit of indigestion. Now we're seeing the benefit of that. We're growing that business exceptionally strongly. Sales are growing at double-digit. Profitability's growing significantly. It's exciting times in Italy. I guess we will have to go again in a year or two and put some more capacity in. That's a great problem to have. We'll never get the timing on that exactly right. It's absolutely something that we will have to do again. Just to bear in mind, 10 years ago, that business was doing over EUR 200 million of revenue. We're now approaching, I think it's EUR 1.1 billion of revenue. There's been a huge amount of growth in a relatively short period of time with an even greater increase in profitability. Italy's performed very strongly.
In Western Europe, our Dutch and Belgian businesses are stable. Growth's very difficult to come by again in those markets. There's just very little good economic news. We did exceptionally well when we did well, and we're holding onto those gains. Any increases out of those markets will be hard-fought, and we're up for the fight. We are fighting. The growth isn't going to be at the rate that it was for the last few years, for a period of time. I think we'll go through a flatter period in those markets, until growth accelerates again. In terms of the Iberian market, we're very new there. There's a lot of work still to do. Sometimes it's one step forward, two steps backward when you're building the infrastructure. We are building out our capacity in Portugal, and in Spain. Those businesses aren't delivering huge growth at the moment.
Portugal is because we made an acquisition just over a year ago that's going exceptionally well. Spain, we're growing into the new infrastructure that we put in, particularly in Barcelona. We are enthused about both those markets. They're big markets. Spain is most probably as big as Italy, and we've seen what we can do in Italy, so therefore, we'll be able to do the same in Spain over a period of time. Portugal is a very nice market. It's got a reasonable size, and it's probably not as attractive to many other players as maybe the Spanish or Italian market is. It might be easier to get a more significant market position in Portugal. We're enthused about that. In terms of acquisition, it has been relatively slow. We've spoken about that before, that expectations of vendors and our expectations didn't quite meet.
We're starting to see that change a little bit. We are looking at some acquisitions. Some of them are at a very advanced stage. We're about to finalize one in New Zealand, which completes at the beginning of July. Some of it's in New Zealand, but most of it is regionally based in the Pacific Islands, the neighbors of New Zealand. We're looking at something in South America. We're looking at something in Eastern Europe. We're looking at something in the U.K. There are a few others that are at a more at a less advanced stage than that, but we are seeing the opportunities open up again. Who knows where that will get to? I think what's important to mention is we're not asleep and we are alert to these opportunities.
In terms of the other factors in the business, we continue to diversify into vertical integration, into manufacturing opportunities. In many countries, we're doing lots of different things, learning from each other and adding value. There's a small cost to that on the way in. There's no doubt it gives us benefit and scale and leverage. We'll continue to do that. In Australia, we're rolling out a few different manufactured opportunities, which take about a year to come to fruition. New Zealand continues down that path. In the U.K., we're doing that. In a few other markets. There's a lot of investment. It's small investment that really isn't going to shift the needle too much into this vertical integration and light manufacture and conversion of product, which is very profitable. Overall, the business is in good shape.
We're highly cash generative at the moment. David will talk about that. We're over the hump of the CapEx spend. Because acquisitions have been relatively low, we've generated very strong cash flow. As we've shared with you, we have done some share buybacks. David will talk about that. We've bought back just under 1% so far. We don't want to interfere with the effective and efficient movement of the market. We are of the view that in the absence of any other acquisition opportunities, at current share prices, it's a great investment and a great alternative use for our cash. All we have to do now is finish the year in the same vein as we've done 10 months. May's out the way. We've still got June to go, which is pretty important. Hopefully, the weather holds up in the U.K. and Europe.
The war doesn't restart and we get some type of settlement, and we see fuel prices trend back downwards to where they were. We're relatively confident of finishing somewhere close to what we've said and where we're tracking. Our look forward to next year is for continued growth. We're very comfortable with what our teams are putting together, with where they see the growth, with the strategic initiatives that we're putting in place. We'll continue to go down that path, and yeah, like I say, we're very pleased with what our teams have delivered so far. My thanks to the teams out there. They've done an awesome job once again. Very adaptable. When circumstances change, as they do, the teams are very experienced as to what to do. Generally, they make the right call.
Generally, we're consistent in our approach, and I think that's borne fruit once again. We're in a strong position. We've got an exceptionally strong balance sheet, a very experienced management team, significant market positions in most geographies we operate in. We're very content and happy with the underlying performance of the business. We think it's exceptionally strong under the circumstances. When economic growth picks up, there's no doubt our growth rate will accelerate exponentially. Yeah, I think if we can deliver this type of growth in a pretty average market, we're very excited about what will happen when things turn and markets free up a little bit more. I'm going to hand over to David just to give you a quick financial overview. I'll just have a quick look through the Q&As and then come back to you. Thank you.
Thanks, Bernard, and morning to everyone. We're giving you some sort of flavor, obviously, of the performance to date. Just to add a little bit of color to maybe a bit of the balance sheet and cash flow. EBITDA, which we haven't given you there, is tracking about 20 basis points higher. We measure EBITDA on the old basis, excluding IFRS 16. That's tracking to the end of April at about 6%, a little bit better than we were last year. In terms of acquisitions, as Bernard said, it's been slow. We haven't done any, bar one very small one in Poland. The cost to date is around about ZAR 1.1 billion, which isn't different from the half year. The impact of that on the numbers is around 1% on revenue as well as trading profit, so that hasn't really changed too much.
Tax rate is tracking within guidance, we've given you guidance of 26%-27%, that's all in line. In terms of working capital, we measure it, as you will be aware, on two metrics. Firstly, days. Our days are about three days better than we were tracking last year. We're either doing a great job this year or we did a poor job last year, it has significantly improved. In terms of our working capital to revenue, that's also down about 5.3% of revenue, annualized revenue last year, down to about 4.2% this year. Generally, the business has done a great job in terms of managing the working capital. On the free cash flow, we've generated to date about ZAR 1.4 billion in terms of inflow, compare that to about a ZAR 3.8 billion outflow of last year. CapEx Bernard spoke about.
We're tracking a little bit above our medium-term guidance of 1.5%-2%, but we absolutely are convinced or confident that that will track down within the range, as we've indicated before. In terms of the funding, as said, we haven't got any maturities. The first maturity we've got is in March of 2027, which is just under one year out. That's a USPP maturity. You remember well. We do have a pretty even tenor of the debt over one to five years out. Round about a fifth of that is through payable in March of 2027. We've also rolled over, renewed our RCF for three years with options for an extra two years to extend that. That's all been done at tighter margins. Nothing really to add from the funding side of it. Bernard spoke about the share buybacks.
We've obviously taken advantage of the weaker share price and the excess cash generation, free cash flow that we've generated, and we've bought back, since March, about ZAR 1.34 billion. It's ongoing, which is just under 1% of the shares on issue. That's obviously on top of the dividend that we paid, which was a higher payout ratio in March of ZAR 2.1 billion. Other than that, I think, certainly from my perspective, the balance sheet and the business is in very good shape, where we like to have it. Yeah, back to you, Bernard. Nothing further to add.
Thanks. David, the first couple of questions are yours. Please could you give us the average exchange rates being used for the 10 months for full divisions? Our preferred measure is constant currency. Obviously, we have to report in ZAR, we manage the business in local currencies, whatever the ZAR come to is what the ZAR come to. We have no control over that. David will answer that question.
Okay. To the end of April, it's ZAR 22.81 to the GBP, ZAR 19.85 to EUR, AUD is ZAR 11.41, and NZD ZAR 9.94. I think the EUR is probably still weaker on average against comparative last year to the ZAR. I think the U.K., AUD, and NZD ZAR is stronger versus those currencies.
What average share price were the share buybacks conducted, and are you continuing the program into year-end? David?
Average price is around ZAR 409. We did get a dividend on some of those early repurchases as well. Yeah, we will continue to buy back into the year-end. Whether we take it through the year-end or not, that's still to be determined.
Thank you. How successful have you been in adding ancillary products like alcohol, cleaning products, et cetera, to your food offering? Please also provide an update on own brand offering. Thanks. That's a very good question, and I could talk for hours about that. Overall, we've been very successful. We're not successful every time. Eventually you do become successful because the more products you can sell to a customer, the bigger opportunity you have to optimize the margin in the basket. They're not easy. There's currently alcohol suppliers, there's currently cleaning product suppliers, there's currently small goods or processed meat suppliers or meat suppliers or fish suppliers. It's not like we're saying, "Oh, thank God you guys have finally got into it." It takes time to break into these markets, but they've become important components of the range.
When you walk through our warehouses, you'll see that the range keeps growing. Suddenly there's alcohol, and suddenly there's 200 different SKUs of alcohol in the range. If you take alcohol, for example, we actually don't want to be a huge distributor of alcohol. We don't want to drive big trucks delivering kegs of beer and huge slabs of alcohol at no margin. We see ourselves as a service offering, where it's another product that the customer buys at the correct margin. That goes to all the ancillary ranges. That's a very important part of what we do. In terms of own brand, that's constant work in progress. It's a constant KPI for all our businesses to keep growing own brand. Own brand obviously has a couple of components to it.
Some of it is just own brand, some of it is manufactured own brand, where we get a double bite at the cherry. We get a manufacturing margin, and we also get a distribution margin. Our own brand continues to be important, continues to grow marginally, because we do need to balance that with the fact that customers do have choice, and we do have suppliers out there who have excellent products and who have big resources. We need to walk both sides of the fence on that one, and we do that relatively well. Please talk to the vertical integration manufacturing opportunities. To what extent does this enhance growth and margins? Well, it's relatively small to start, but it accelerates as time goes on.
These manufacturing opportunities aren't big R&D product development, complicated product. We really are talking about me-too-type product, relatively simple product that makes the customer's life easier. Sauces, chopped things, marinated things, smoked things, portion-controlled things, et cetera. They start off very small and they grow as time goes on. Like I say, you get two bites at the cherry because you develop the brand of that. You're getting the manufacturing margin, you get the distribution margin. You get the benefit of house brand incremental margin, plus what manufacturer margin is. We're very comfortable with that journey. We only embarked on this maybe seven, eight years ago. We said we wanted to become a food business, not just a distribution business. I think our teams around the world have captured that very nicely, and are progressing very well.
There's no doubt that impacts the numbers. There's no doubt that some of that is in the reason that when you look at our trading margins, they are at a higher level than our peer group. We'll continue down that path. Potential for opportunistic M&A in the Middle East region. I think it's a little bit too soon for that. It's been very traumatic there and businesses have adapted in different types of ways. We haven't seen anything that's in a state of desperation. Most operators will see it out. I don't think you're going to get anything people desperate to jump out and give their businesses away. I don't believe there is anything opportunistic there. Like I say, we're very confident, our teams are very confident that we'll bounce back relatively quickly, and it will just be an aberration in history.
Sorry, I'm just trying to get the next one. Good results. I would like to ask, when will acquisition peak or stop, assuming free cash flow will improve? Organic acquisition is part of what we do. It's part of our DNA, and I think that's a very important part of what we do. It won't stop. We are looking at many. We do look at many. Lots don't get done, many do get done, and this thing goes in peaks and troughs. The opportunities happen when they happen. We've got the balance sheet firepower to make them happen. More importantly, you need the management team to integrate them and get the benefits of these acquisitions. That's in terms of in-market bolt-on acquisitions. In terms of larger acquisitions, like I say, they only happen when they happen.
There's maybe one that we're looking at at the moment that's at a very, very, very, very early stage. There's probably more chance of it not happening than happening. We carry on looking, and one day we'll uncover a gem. At what point will Bidcorp consider an exit from China? Does China produce positive cash flow? The cash flows are basically neutral after we funded the business. We should see some improvements. We have seen some operational improvements. We've renegotiated some leases. We've simplified business structures. We've made things more streamlined and efficient. We will generate cash. We are generating some profits. Is it a long-term commitment to that market? Probably not. If the right opportunity to exit had to arise, we'd certainly consider it far more eagerly than we would in any other markets. It's been tough going, and I think we're not the only ones.
We're not the only non-Chinese business who's faced with this problem. It's just not a great environment for companies like us to operate in. Could you comment on the base effects for the upcoming summer months? If I remember correctly, weather was very good last year. I actually don't think the weather was very good last year in Europe. I think July and August were pretty ordinary, and September improved. If anyone's got a long-range weather forecast, please let us know and we'll build our numbers accordingly. Last week the weather was good, and we had some record weeks. Let's all just do a silent prayer for some good weather. How are you dealing with the rising fish prices, Heidi? If you could give us any color on how you buy fish, where the supplier is based, if you could. I actually can't answer that.
I wasn't aware that there were any great increases in pricing. That might be a South African-centric issue. Around the world, we're not seeing any great material changes in pricing. Generally, we don't fix our pricing for a long period of time. Fish comes from all over the world. Salmon, for example, which is the largest species that we sell, comes primarily out of Norway and the top of Europe and out of Chile. Some of the white fish comes out of Alaska. It actually depends. A lot of the shrimp and the seafood is farmed in Asia. We're not really seeing any huge impact on that. Any views on the upcoming tourism season in Europe? With fewer flights since the war, could this impact European performance? We were actually in Europe last week, and actually I think it's busier than it was before.
Maybe people are bypassing the Middle East. Airports were full, flights were full, tourist places were full. Not that we'd spend a lot of time in tourist places. We are very busy working. I actually think that if the weather holds up, I think they're going to have a whopper of a season in Europe. I'm actually very optimistic about that. Europe was supported by resilient margins. How resilient this margin versus group trading margins? I think margins in Europe have improved marginally. Margins have improved marginally. It's got a little bit better. The Europe cluster's doing good. You indicate some margin gains in the U.K., can you indicate how this was achieved? Through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and hard work, and a little bit of luck. It's been a long-term plan. We've been making changes to the business.
We've been focusing on what we do. We're growing the correct segment of the business. We're seeing strong growth in the free trade, in the independent sector. We're also seeing very good growth in the national sector, but in those segments that we want to participate in. We put new infrastructure in place, and we've grown into that relatively quickly. We're over the cost element of that. We also did pick up the Whitbread contract in September last year, and that's been beneficial for the U.K. business. That's not the only reason as to why they've done well. That's just one component that helped us fill some of that capacity. I'll get on to that one. What is the long-term potential for Argentina as the current government reforms become more entrenched? That's an excellent question, and I wish I knew the answer.
At the moment, Argentina looks fantastic. He's made some major reforms there, some real structural changes. The economy's gone through some pain, and our business is doing well. We're actually seeing growth in a very difficult market, and things are going the right way. Will he get reelected in a year or two's time? I've got no clue. If he does get reelected, I think the country stands a really, really good chance of being a powerhouse again. If he doesn't get elected and you get a reversal back to the left, I think they're in for a really rocky ride. I really actually can't answer that one. Please talk to CEO and CFO succession timeline process. Tomorrow? Today? When do you want us to go? I mean, it's up to you guys. Just tell us when.
I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered by that question, David. Maybe it's my gray hair that's the giveaway. Look at you don't have one gray hair. That's obviously being a CFO is much easier than being a CEO. It is something we looked at. It's absolutely something that we're considering. It's not a short-term issue. The one thing that we are adamant about is we have a very significant bench of people in the business. We're a very well human resource business with people who've been around a long time, people who've grown in the business, people who understand our culture, who understand how it all fits together, and that's critical. We certainly ain't the cleverest bunch of people around, but I think we're smart enough to understand that we do have a culture, the business does have a culture, and that works.
Any change will be carefully thought out and will in all likelihood come from within. We do have a very talented, highly capable bunch of people in the group, because David and I spend a lot of time, as I maybe shouldn't have told you last week, visiting tourist hotspots and airports in Europe to see how business is doing. That's absolutely on our agenda and it's coming up in the next few years. Have you seen any impact on customer trends due to new generation weight loss drugs yet, like healthier options? It's very difficult to tell. I'm not sure how much of the population is actually on Ozempic or Mounjaro or Wegovy or whatever. Maybe 5%, maybe 10% of the population. I really don't know. People don't know if it's having an impact. People don't know if it's having an impact on the choices.
Are they just eating less of what's on the plate? Are they prepared to pay a full price for a lesser plate of food which might be good for operators? Nobody really knows. So far to say, we still sell a lot of hot chips and chicken nuggets and deep-fried things and bacon and eggs, and all of that stuff. It may have an impact. It absolutely may have an impact, but I'm not sure it's going to be a significant impact. I'm not sure it's going to be an impact that we won't just weather and adapt to as it transpires. I think the last one. Despite widespread concerns about pressure on the South African consumer, you continue to report exceptionally strong results. What are the key factors underpinning this performance, and how sustainable do you believe they are?
I assume that's a question on South Africa, and particularly on our South African business. I guess in reality, I don't want to make a political statement. You've got two different realities. You've got a government reality, and you've got a private sector reality. A lot of government failings are picked up by a competent private sector. You've got a population there. You've got a population and an economy that spends money, that eats, that somehow goes out to restaurants, that somehow has hotel accommodation and conferences and tourism, and all of these other things. Although government might do nothing to help it, private enterprise certainly supports it and makes sure it happens. We don't get too concerned about government and government policy, trying to trade with government, et cetera.
We understand where the real economy is, and we focus on that and operate within that. The environment's not easy, absolutely not. It is what it is. Like I say, we've got a very experienced, talented management team. The South African business has been doing what it's been doing for many years, and has been successful for many years, and will continue to be so. Yeah, I don't think we're doing anything hugely revolutionary. We're focusing on the basics. We're managing those businesses exceptionally tightly. We're adapting to customer requirements. We're adapting to society, to the conditions we operate in. Yeah, they've done a great job, and hopefully they'll continue to do a great job. I've said that year after year after year for many years now. To get 15% growth out of South Africa, like you say, it's phenomenal. It's not one-off.
It's absolutely been year after year after year, and the look-forward is no different. I think the opportunities are there, which actually, we look at our South African business as a role model for what can be done in many other businesses. Don't complain about the economy being crappy. Don't complain about government's incompetence and inability to provide electricity or water or other things. Yeah, our South African business manages that, and still manages to grow admirably and make phenomenal returns. They're not coming off a low base, they're coming off a very high base. They have done a great job, and hopefully they continue to do that. I think that's all the questions we have. The one other point I do want to mention. Let me just see. Nope, that's the no more questions. It's just this issue around technology. We're not a technology company.
We're not a hyperscaler. We're not going to convert our warehouses into data centers, although it's not a bad idea because they're already refrigerated and cool and whatever, so we could just put server racks in the racking and actually might make more money. David, maybe you want to consider that. We're not a tech business. However, we are harnessing tech and the benefits of AI and the benefits of other technology within our business. We're a very data-rich business. We do a lot of transactions with a lot of customers, and any incremental improvement in technology and efficiency has a reasonably large impact on profitability. Now, we're not going to double our profitability, but if you look at the number of telesales agents we have, for example, it's probably 10% of what we had 20 years ago in absolute numbers.
That's moved to a different way of dealing with customers now. The future of sales reps looks very different going forward. We don't know what it looks like, but it will look different. We're adapting to this all the time, and we're exploring new technologies around what we do. It's not an all-in approach. It's not we're going to change everything. We change very few things at a time and see what type of benefit we get. We market in one market, roll it out to other markets. These technology issues are exceptionally important to us. We've opened this tech office in Amsterdam to further explore what opportunities are available. We throw lovely words out there like agentic commerce, which is real. It's real. Where it's going to go to, I don't know. Are we going to place orders for customers and do that?
I'm not sure, but we might, and we'll be ready for it if it does work or if it is what the customer wants. There's a combination of things that happen. Technology remains exceptionally important to us. We are spending not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but we're spending sufficient money to ensure we're on the right edge of technology. We're not spending money for money's sake. We do understand that technology will play a role in not only maintaining margins, but helping us to enhance them slightly, but without getting totally confused and thinking we're a tech company. At the end of the day, we supply products, we supply real, tangible products to real, tangible customers. There are many companies who are trying to interpose themselves in the middle.
At the end of the day, they're not offering anything other than a data exchange between a customer who has a very real need for tangible stuff and us, who has the real tangible stuff. The challenge for us is to remain relevant and reliable and necessary for the customer to deal with directly. I think that's all. Let me just check if anything more has come through. Nope.
No more.
We're done. Thanks, everybody. Apologies that we are a week or two late, but there were some reasons for that. The news is, as I say, I think it's a good news story. It's a positive story. We remain excited about the future. Hopefully, diesel prices come down. That will have a direct impact. Hopefully, we have some good weather in the northern hemisphere. That will certainly have a good impact. Yeah, we're just excited as to where the business is. The balance sheet looks good. We're in a strong position. Thank you all, and thanks for your attendance. Okay. Thank you. Good evening.